Qantas and Virgin Australia have today welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement of an aviation industry support package, and highlighted the vital role the support will have in stimulating tourism, jobs and investment across Australia.
The Federal Government today announced a $1.2 billion support package which includes hundreds of thousands of half-price airline tickets, cheap loans for businesses, direct support to keep planes in the air and airline workers in their jobs.
Qantas, Virgin, and a handful of smaller regional carriers will be the main beneficiaries of the industry-wide package that has several elements which, combined, will support the sector that has arguably been worst hit by the COVID crisis and related restrictions.
The support package is the result of detailed discussions with government and business over several months.
Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said the announcement was excellent news for the aviation industry, the economy and all Australians, and thanked the Federal Government for its ongoing support.
“This isn’t just good news for us, this is good news for all Australians. The economic impact this will have cannot be underestimated. This is a once in a generation event that is going to give the entire tourism industry supply chain a significant boost, which it desperately needs,” Ms Hrdlicka said.
“We have so many amazing tourism destinations right here in Australia, and this program enables irresistible prices that will get Australians out exploring the multitude of historically relevant, interesting and beautiful places we are lucky enough to have in our domestic backyard.”
Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce echoed the sentiment saying “This support is fantastic news for aviation and for the thousands of businesses, big and small, that rely on the tourism industry.
“With the vaccine rollout now giving more certainty that state borders will stay open, this is the perfect time to provide stimulus and get people travelling domestically again, particularly given there won’t be any international tourists for another seven months,”
“This stimulus package will bring our domestic crews back to work faster and help them ramp up their hours closer to pre-crisis levels.”
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce
“To be clear, this targeted support will go directly to employees to help them meet their cost of living while they wait for international flying to return. It’s not a subsidy for Qantas,” Alan Joyce concluded.
Over the coming weeks, the Qantas Group will work with the Federal Government and broader industry on detail to support the rollout of the stimulus program.
Special fares will be available via Virgin Australia, Qantas and Jetstar from 1 April 2021 for travel from 1 May 2021.